A Republican governor of a Democratic state, Corbett has railed against the health law’s massive Medicaid expansion and omitted it from his proposed budget. But all around him, governors are opting in — including Republicans John Kasich just west of him in Ohio and Chris Christie just east in New Jersey.

Hospitals and advocacy groups are pressing him to take the money — and they amplified the pressure within hours of Christie’s announcement on Tuesday.

One day later, Corbett confirmed he had recently requested a chat with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The subject: Medicaid expansion.

“The governor, I think, has been pretty clear in saying the door is closed but not locked,” said Charlie Gerow, a Republican consultant based in Harrisburg, Pa.

Corbett’s office says the meeting, which hasn’t been officially scheduled, doesn’t mean he’s going to change his mind on Medicaid. After all, he talked to HHS about state exchanges several times but still refused to set one up. Just a few weeks ago, he said expansion would be unpalatable without major changes to the overall Medicaid program.

The ingredients for a change of heart are in place: Pennsylvania lies between the bright-blue Northeast and the blue-collar Rust Belt. Five of six bordering state governors — including Kasich and Christie — are on board with expansion, and the sixth, West Virginia, is likely to opt in soon.

And Pennsylvanians turned out solidly for President Barack Obama in November.

State Sen. Vincent Hughes, a Democrat, says it’s sort of like being on a desert island.

“Pennsylvania is now essentially surrounded,” Hughes said on a call with reporters. “Every state around Pennsylvania has moved in this direction, and we’re standing out here by ourselves.”

Not to mention, Corbett’s favorability rating is bleak halfway through his term. Contenders are lining up to run against him. Rep. Allyson Schwartz, one of Obamacare’s biggest congressional allies, is a prospective candidate.

The pressure isn’t just political. More than 600,000 low-income Pennsylvanians would be in line for basic health coverage, according to several estimates. Of the states that have rejected expansion, only Texas and Georgia would cover more people. Pennsylvania also has prominent hospitals and medical schools in its population centers — Philadelphia and Pittsburgh — that would benefit.

Former Gov. Ed Rendell said it was “almost inconceivable” to envision Corbett passing up federal dollars to cover his low-income constituents.

“Gov. Corbett is not like Gov. [Bobby] Jindal and other governors appealing to the national right-wing base,” he said, referring to Jindal, who might seek the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. “The governor does not have national ambitions. More importantly, I believe Gov. Corbett, in the end, is a compassionate person. I think he’s got to do this.”

Corbett’s predicament is far from singular. Republican governors across the country — many facing sluggish economies and large numbers of uninsured people who would qualify for expanded Medicaid — are under pressure to give expansion a second look.

Prominent Obamacare foes who once said hell no are now murmuring heavens yes or well, maybe. Several have said they’ll agree to only a few years at a time to make sure the federal government lives up to its funding promises.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott took the expansion in a striking reversal. And in Virginia, Gov. Bob McDonnell has blessed a deal with state lawmakers that could pave the way for expansion.

That’s emboldening Democrats, advocates and hospital industry officials in a few states, like Pennsylvania, where the governors have turned down the pillar of Obamacare.

“I don’t see a stampede among governors who have already said no,” said Dean Clancy of FreedomWorks. Rather, he said, he sees “a small handful of governors whose policy sense probably tells them to say no, giving in to their short-term lust for additional revenues so they can balance their budgets with money from other states.”

Asked about those who had already flipped, a spokesman for the Club for Growth said, “We’re disappointed that they went back on their word to oppose this massive expansion of Big Government.”

“Gov. Christie’s decision has not changed Gov. Corbett’s decision,” spokeswoman Christine Cronkright said in a statement. Cronkright said Corbett still has questions for the White House about how Medicaid expansion would work and how much room Pennsylvania will have to manage the program. “[H]e remains concerned about the cost of expanding Medicaid in Pennsylvania without reforms.”

The meeting with Sebelius, far from a turnabout, is another sign of the governor’s diligent quest to understand the ramifications of Medicaid expansion for Pennsylvania before he makes up his mind, backers say.

“I think he’s going to ask very tough questions, and if there aren’t appropriate answers to those very tough questions, he would not move forward,” said John Brabender, a Republican strategist who has advised former Sen. Rick Santorum. “I think he is extremely sincere when he says that he needs answers.”

Jennifer Stefano, director of Pennsylvania’s chapter of the conservative Americans for Prosperity, predicted Corbett will hold firm: “I think there’s always pressure. The big medical conglomerates want the money. They don’t see people. They see dollars,” she said. “Gov. Corbett really, really sees people and what could happen long term.”

Some political observers, though, see a governor on defense whose hand may be forced by shifting attitudes toward Obamacare.

“I don’t think you can rule out the possibility that the landscape is changing around him,” said Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College.

State Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, a Republican who backs Medicaid expansion, said he was “optimistic” that his colleagues would eventually back him up.

“It seems like the trend — especially among states with Republican governors — is they’re making a decision to opt into this expansion,” DiGirolamo said. “I am in favor of doing this, but I also understand where our governor is coming from.”

So if Corbett does finally take up Obama on that massive expansion of Medicaid, few would be surprised — except, maybe, Corbett.